Hypodermic instrument



March 17, 1925. 1,529,659

E. H. MARCY HYPODERMIC INSTRUMENT Filed Dec. 24, 1921 PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST H. IABGY, OF FBAIINGH AK, MASSACHUSETTS.

monmxc msrntumn'r.

Application fled December 84, 1921. serial No. 524,860.

T 0 all'who-m it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ennns'r H. \MARCY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Framingham, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Im rovements in Hypodermic Instruments, 0 which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to hypodermic instruments of the type having means for discharging medicinal preparations directly from the original package into the tissue or vein of the patient.

Its primary object is to avoid contamination'of the medicine between the time when it is put up and sealed in sterile packages at the manufacturing laboratory and the time when it is injected into the patient. Further and more specific objects are to enable an ampul of the simplest and least expensive character to be used as the original container for the medicine and to be discharged thus directly; and to reduce the cost of the devices by which,respectively,

, the hypodermic needle is coupled to the ampul and the means by which the contents of the latter are discharged. More particular objects will appear from the following description of the principles of my invention in connection with certain specific forms in which those principles have been embodied.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 is a dismembered view showing the constituent parts of my complete hypodermic instrument in longitudinal section.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the complete assembled instrument.

Figure 3 is a perspective View of one form of needle holding cap forming a part of the invention.

Figure 4 is a sectional view of a modified form of such cap.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a socket lining for one of the ampul plugs.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one end of the pusher element.

Figure 7 is a perspective View of the rod and handle part of such pusher element.

Figure 8 is apartial side elevation and part longitudinal section of a form of the invention arranged particularly as a sterile unit package.

Figure 9 is a longitudinal section of the needle carrying cap employed in Figure8.

Figure 10 is a longitudinal section of the sleeve part of such cap.

Figures 11, 12 and 13 show the separated parts of .another form of the invention.

Like reference characters indicate the same parts wherever they occur in all of the figures. In these drawings, three forms of the instrument are shown, two of them being of i the type adapted to furnish a single needle and a single pusher in the same package with a num'br of ampuls or barrelscontaining medicine; such needle and pusher or plunger being adapted for use in combination with each of the ampuls in turn until all have been discharged. The other form is particularly designed as a unit package consisting of a single ampul, needle and pusher designed for a single use only. The classification is not exclusive, however, since one of the first two forms and the third mentioned form may be put. out either as a single sterile unit jgacka e or as a package consisting of a num er of ampuls with a single needle and ejector adapted to be used,

in turn, with each.

In two of the forms the ampul is the same and consists when it leaves the manu facturing laboratory of a tube a with plugs b and cin its opposite ends. These plugs are preferably of rubber composition but may be of any other material which is sufficiently compressible and elastic to make a fluid tight joint, is impervious to and not attacked by the enclosed medicine, and is capable of bein made sterile. body, a section 0 straight glass tubing may be used. The-character of the plugs and of the means later described for mounting the needle and discharging pusher in connection with the tube are such that accuracy in eitherbore or external diameter of the tube is not an essential. Thatis. the tube need neither be ground externally or internally, nor threaded to mount the attachments, nor need its bore be exactly straight or of exactly uniform diameter withln closer limits than can be obtained. in

ordinary inexpensive glass tubin'g.

For the I the -ampul or body of the combinediins'tru 1 ment may be made by simply cutting a; sec-' when such plug is used, by any suitablefor hypodermic use,'the other plug then applied and the ends sealed by any suitable sealing means or mediate continue the sterile condition of the package. I

The hypodermic needle is-shoWn at d. It is made of any common needle material and is pointed at both ends, and is secured between its ends in a sleeve ,or cap 6. Such sleeve or cap may be made from metal tubing with one. end spun or swaged to form a head e, either conical as shown in Figure l or square as shown in Figure 4. Such head may 'bereinforcedby an inserted plug f if desired, or said lug may be omitted. The needle is made ast in the head and plug,

means'known in the art.

An important feature of the invention by which the needle holding cap is adapted to be applied easily and quickly to the ampul body, and to fit the same with suflicie'nt se-,

curity, consists in making the sleeve or flange art of the cap e smooth on the inside and o a springy and resilient character. This springy character is preferably secured by slotting or cuttin the lateral wall of the cap from its back edge forward toward the head 6' at one, two or more points, thereby converting such walls into spring tongues or jaws closely contiguous to one another.

' Thus, when the cap and needle are applied to one end of the ampul, the inner pointed end of the needle penetrates the plug 6 and enters the liquid containing space of the Q ampul, while the spring tongue embrace and 'grip the ampul externally, holding the needle steady in central position and providing a springy frictional grip by which accidental dislodgment of the needle is prevented. In Figure 1 the cap is shown as provided with oppositely extending lugs g to furnish finger holds, but such lugs may be omitted and the end or head e of the cap relied on to I .take the thrust of the users fingers.

A cap k, which may be, and preferably is, similar in any or all of the particulars before named to the cap 6, is applied to the opposite end of the ampul body and serves as a means for positioning and guiding the plunger or push rod 71. Such rod passes through the head of the cap it and its inner end is attached to a disk 7', the diameter of which is small enough to enter the ampul and the end area of which is great enough I to apply a distributed pressure to the plug 0. Preferably the inner end of the rod i is screw-threaded and is screwed into the disk" j, but it may be attached to the disk in any way and by any other means known in the art. On the outer end of the rod is a knob I: to take the pressure of the users' thumb when the contents of the ampul are dis charged.

The part thus referred to as a knob may be' of various specific constructions, such as the caps e-and k are apphed to the opposite ends of the ampul, w th the inner end of the needle d penetrating the plug 6, and the plunger rod is pushed inward, the plug 0' is displaced toward the plug 6 and acts as a piston to discharge the contents of the ampul through the needle. Whilethis discharging actionis going on, the combined instrument may. be held and operated in any manner most convenient to the operator. The sp-ringy enveloping character of the caps enable them to be slipped upon the opposite ends of the ampul body, and causes them to be held firmly without looseness. This condition is a great advantage in lo eating the needle in a central position in one 7 referably the piston, plug a and the pusher head j are complementally so formed as to interengage with one another, whereby, upon twisting the plunger rod, the plug may be turned so as to free it in the ampul in case it should adhere to the walls of the latter through drying or stiffening of the medicine, or by adhesion of the sealing material, between the outer parts of the plug and the adjacent walls of the ampul. For the purpose of making such engagement, the head is preferably made of hexagonal, square or other non-circular outline, and the outer side of the plug 0 is formed in a recess Z lined with a short section of tubing m complemental in form to the head j. If the plug is of vulcanized rubber the lining piece m will be firmly united to the rubber by the vulcanizing process and will transmit the torque of the plunger to the plug strongly enough to free the latter from the walls of the ampul before it will slip within the recess Z.

The parts of the instrument thus described may be assembled at the place of manufacture into a unit instrument, as shown in Figure 2, and there sterilized, and

the needle alone, or both the needle and strument with which the medicine has -to come in contact becoming septic. After 'pand each use the needle will need to be sterilized before being used again. When put up in the unit packa e shown in Figure 2, the cap 6 is prefera ly pushed only part of the way on the ampul, leaving the inner end of the needle embedded in the adjacent plug but not rotruding through the inner side of the, p ug. Then, just before using the instrument the needle may be pushed all the way in. y

In Figures 8 to 10 a modification of the invention adapted particularly for a single unit package is shown, and therein the cap correspondmg to cap 6 is made in two parts, viz, a sleeve or tube 11. and a disk 0 which fits slidingly in said sleeve and through which the needle passes and is made fast. Stops in opposite ends of the sleeve 7:. prevent t e disk 0 from sliding out of said sleeve. These stops may be, but are not necessarily, flanges surrounding the ends of the sleeve, or each may be a short lug or indentation. Each end of this sleeve may be slotted to form spring tongues or jaws,

either end foremost upon the ampul.

When put up at the laboratory the parts are assembled with the long end,of the needle passing through the plug at one end of the ampul, as shown in Figure 8, and its short end outermost, such short end being then closed by a block or plug 7- into which it is inserted. The pusher rod 71 is then unscrewed from thepusher head 9' and the latter is placed in the recess of the plug 0, the plunger end cap it being in place. When this form of instrument is to be used the pusher rod 2' is first passed through the hole in the end of cap h. and is screwed into the head 7'. Then the block 1- is removed from the outer end of the needle, the sleeve 11. slipped oil the ampul, whereby the needle is withdrawn, and the sleeve then reversed and replaced in the ampul, whereby the shorter end of the needle passes through the ampul plug 6 and all is in readiness to make an injection.

The form of the invention shown in Figures 11, 12 and 13 is furnished as an original package having a container which is entirely of glass and may be filled, sterilized and sealed at the manufacturing laboratory,

and in which the contained medicine comes in contact only with the glass up to the time of use.

. In this case the ampul a is preferably made of glass and is closed at both ends when it leaves the place of manufacture. It may be made of a section of tubing drawn down at both ends and closed at one end,-

then filled, sterilized and its other end sealed, or it may be blown in the form of a tube with a fiat end and a tapered open end through which it is filled. the open end be-' i'ngsealed after filling. Thus the original package is a sealed, sterile glass container olding the required quantity of inedicme.

It is grooved or scratched on the encircling uniform diameter, within the limits in which plugs of the sort previously described can make fluid-tight contact with its walls and is long enough to contain the two plugs and the dose of medicine.

In this case the plugs 12 and 0 are assembled with the needle' and the pusher in the first instance and are applied to the ampul after the closed ends of the latter have been broken ofl. The plug 1), associated with the needle, may be held on the latter simply by friction, or that end of the needle tube which passes through the plug may be expanded in the plug or over the end face of the latter, either with or without a retaining washer. Similarly the plug 0 is whereby the sleeve is adapted to be slipped\applied to the end of the pusher rod and may be vulcanized fastthereon-when it is made of rubber composition. The bell or cap it associated with the pusher is like the corresponding cap previously described, being large enough to slip over the end of the main part of the ampul while theplug is adapted to enter the bore of the latter. The

cap associated with the needle may be like i the cap shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 or that shown in Figure 4. It may be of a simpler form, however, and consist simply of a metal disk e through which the needle passes and to which it is soldered and two springs a may be integral with the disk and bent down so as to form jaws or arms adapted to embrace the end of the ampul.

In using the form of instrument now being described, either end of the ampul may be broken off first and either the needle or the pusher applied thereto in exactly the same way as before described, except thatwhen' the cap is being slipped on the open end of the ampul the associated plug is passed into its bore at the same time.

Then the assemblage thus' far completed isreversed'to bring the remaining closed end of the ampul uppermost, and that end is broken ofi and the remaining part of the unit is applied, the plug associated with that part being inserted into the bore of the ampul at the same time that the associated cap is slipped on the outside. The assemblage is then essentially like that shown in FigureQ' and may be used in the same way.

Whether the original ampul is put up as a tube closed at both ends by plugs or as a container autogenously sealed at both ends without contained plugs, the result is the same after the ends of the latter have been broken ofli' and the pusher and needle with their associated plugs have been applied. The bod of the syrlnge is then an ampul prepare as an original package and having plugs inserted in 1ts ends.

Either form of instrument is adapted for uick use in emergency for givinga hypodermic injection without first steri 'zing the hypodermic syringe and'then filling the syringe with medicine from another container. A'feature of great practical advantage is that when the needle and pusher are arranged to be used with separate ampuls, either the needle orthe plunger is adapted to be applied to either end of the ampul, wherefore it becomes unnecessary to take any care in choosing the res ective ends of the ampul for application 0 these arts.

What I claim and desire to secure y Letters Patent is:

1, A h podermic instrument comprisin an ampu uniform diameter from end to end, adapted to contain medicine and having plugs in its opposite ends, a cap carrying a double I pointed hypodermic needle adapted tobe ap lied directly upon one end of such ampuli with one point of said needle penetrating the adjacent plug, a cap adapted to be applied directly upon the opposlte end of the ampul, and a pusher slidingl mounted in the last named cap and opera le to displace the adjacent plug of the ampul toward that plug which is penetrated by the needle. I

2. A hypodermic instrument comprising an original package of medicine, such package substantially uniform both in bore and in external dimensions, plugs contained in both ends of said tubes, one of which plugs is capable of sliding through the tube, and means for discharging the contents of said package hypodermically consisting a of a double pointed needle adapted to pierce through one of said plugs, a cap in which said needle is mounted, having sides adapted to be slipped over the end of the tube, which sides are slotted and spring to grasp the sides of the tube, and a pusher adapted to pass through the bore of said package and to propel the slidable plug toward the plug through which saidneedle passes.

3. In combination, an ampul having a plug at one end, a double pointed needle adapted to pierce through said plug from the outside, and a cap secured inseparably to .said needle and having spring jaws or tongues adapted to slip over and grip the adjacent'end of the ampul.

4. A hypodermic needle attachment for medicine containers comprising a. double pointed needle, and a cap through which said needle passes and to which it is fastened between its ends, said-cap being provided with a lateral wall surrounding one end portion of the needle and formed with approximately straight and o spring tongues or (jaws to embrace and grip her having springy walls adapted to embrace and engage yieldingly the end of a medicine package, and a sin le continuous tubular needle passing throug the end wall of said cap and between its opposite ends fastened to said cap, both ends of said tubular needle being pointed, whereby one end is adapted to be forced through a plug in the end of such package and the other to penetrate the skin and tissues of a patient.

6. A hypodermic needle attachment for medicine containers comprising a cap having sides adapted to embrace the end of a medicine package, a disk forming an end wall" adapted to slide from one end to the other of said cap, and a tubular needle passing through said disk and secured thereto to slide lengthwise therein.

8. The combination of a medicine package consisting of a tubular body having a plug slidably mounted therein,.an ejecting v attachment consisting of a cap having a resilient divided flange adapted to embrace the end of said tube and-a plunger passing through said cap and adapted to slide lengthwise therethrough and having means on one end for engaging and displacing said plug through the tube.

9. The combination of a medicine package consisting of a tubular body having a plug slidably mounted therein, an ejecting attachment consisting of a cap having a resilient divided flange adapted to embrace the end of said tube and a plunger passing through said cap and adapted to slide lengthwise therethrough and having means on one end for engaging and displacing said plug through the tube, said engaging means being constructed likewise to transmit rotational movement about the axis of the plunger to the plug.

10. The combination of a medicine package consisting of a tubular body haying a plug slidably mounted therein, an e ecting attachment consisting of a cap having a resilient divided flange adapted toembrace projections beside its axis in contact with complemental parts of the plug.

" tral part sufficiently long to hold the contents of the ampul, and encircling fracture lines, between said part and the closed ends,

combined with resilient plugs adapted to be entered into the ends of saidcentral part,

and caps adapted to be placed upon the ends 10' of such part, a hypodermic needle secured to one of said caps, and a pusher mounted to slide through the other of said caps and to propel one of said plugs.

In testimony whereof I have afi'lxed my 5 signature.

' ERNEST H. MARCY. 

